Phelps returns to Michigan with celebrity tales to tell

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- He has had dinner with Demi, swapped messages with Ashton and chilled with LeBron and Kobe.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- He has had dinner with Demi, swapped messages with Ashton and chilled with LeBron and Kobe.

He has met Tiger, and hopes to meet MJ.

On a first-name basis with those stars of the silver screen, the hardwood and the links, Michael Phelps stated the obvious Saturday when he said, "I'm living a dream."

Phelps, the megastar swimmer and headliner of the Beijing Olympics who took home a record eight gold medals, was once a part-time student at Michigan and a volunteer swim coach for the Wolverines during four years of training in Ann Arbor. He and other current and former Michigan students who participated in the Beijing Games were honored before the football game Saturday against Wisconsin.

A Baltimore native, Phelps said he considers Ann Arbor "a part of my home," even though he said he sold his house here months ago. He said this was the first time he has been back since June 25. Since then, he reached celebrity status.

The host of this season's first episode of Saturday Night Live in New York, Phelps described an encounter he had on the other coast when he was invited to dinner after MTV's Video Music Awards in Hollywood by actress Demi Moore.

"I was kind of shocked and didn't know what to do," Phelps said. "It was her and (Los Angeles Clippers guard) Baron Davis, and we sat there and had dinner. Jermaine Dupri walks in. (Rapper) Lil' Bow Wow walked in. And people just kept on coming.

"It's just surreal, you know. It kind of feels like I'm dreaming."

Phelps donned a blue Michigan cap and No. 8 Wolverines jersey Saturday. Asked if he wore No. 8 because of his eight golds last month or in support of quarterback Nick Sheridan, Phelps said, "I received (the jersey) from the university, so I guess it's from everything that happened (in Beijing)."

Before Phelps' appearance on SNL this month, he received a message from Moore's husband, Ashton Kutcher, who told the swimming phenom to "just be myself."

"I was looking at it, and I was like, 'Is this real or am I getting punked?' " Phelps said in a reference to Kutcher's hit TV show.

Phelps said he has spent only four days in his Baltimore home since returning from the Olympics. He said he has been in the pool only once, and "it wasn't pretty."